The Classroom that Never Closes

The Bishop from Kansas had heard a story about Pablo Picasso that did not at all sound factual, but had an interesting point. It seems that Picasso’s house had been burglarized. Picasso had hidden while the intruders were in the house and had gotten a good look at them. When the police arrived, Picasso told them that he wasn’t much at verbalizing the description of how the burglars looked to him, but that he would be willing to paint a picture of the culprits. The next day the police arrested a piece of a flowerpot, two swirls of bright color, and three odd-sized triangles.

It does not always work to accept the description of a person, or event, or anything for that matter, which does not take into account the limits of our abilities to communicate in ways that make us understandable. Human beings usually accept reality only on their own terms, and even the best of words can be lost to us simply because the language or the pictures are not clear to those with whom we need to communicate.

The children of Israel at the foot of Mount Sinai were so terrified by the thunderous sound of God that they could not learn what God had to say. On the other hand, when Jesus spoke in the synagogue in his hometown, Nazareth, it was neither language nor fear that kept them from hearing what he had to say. In that case, human relationships and prejudices blocked what they needed to hear. The writer of the book of Hebrews says that in these last days, “God has spoken to us in his Son…” the ways of the Creator himself are communicated to us by means of God’s language: the life, ministry, death and resurrections of Christ Jesus.

As schools close for the summer, and graduations proclaim that various phases of “learning” are concluded, it might be good to remember that life is the classroom that never closes. That Jesus is himself both teacher and lesson. And that however differently we may describe what we learn of Jesus– the important thing is knowing him–his love and his forgiving grace.

Go with God,

Pastor Jansen